Assignment: News and Views (Stem Cells)
Biology
Background
Although trained as a biological research scientist, because of the poor job market you have restarted your career as a science writer. You are now a journalist working for Proceedings of the Brandeis Academy of BIOL-18 (PBAB) writing for the "News" portion of the publication. In this section of the journal, exciting new discoveries in all scientific disciplines are described to scientists of all fields. For examples of these types of articles, please see the "News" section of Science. Specifically, your job is to describe research in biology to all scientists including physicists, chemists, computational biologists, etc. Given the recent controversy concerning the use of stem cells in the United States, PBAB editors have asked you to write a "News" feature detailing the current research given in the article below. In addition, your editor suggests that you describe what stem cells are, how they are obtained and how they may be used in clinical settings in your piece. Try to avoid presenting a biased argument for or against their use.
Instructions
Be sure your article adheres to the following specific guidelines:
- All scientifically acceptable citations must have been published/posted in the last 12 months.
- You may utilize up to five additional outside resources that should be cited as described in your BIOL18a lab manual. These should not be included in your word count.
- The level of science presented must be understandable by all members of the PBAB reading audience (all Brandeis undergraduate science majors).
- The article must adhere to the 750-word limit enforced by the PBAB editors. Note that there is no minimum on this length.
- The article must have an attention-grabbing title.
- The article must include an appropriate attention-grabbing figure complete with a title and figure legend.
- Pay close attention to the style and tone used in the "News" examples provided. Note that they are not written like conventional journal articles.
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Faculty Spotlight
"I learned to use three particularly valuable practices to teach writing.
"First, by talking about writing in every class session and discussing some pointers and at the same time stressing to students that we are all on a continual course to becoming better writers, I saw a change in the students in that they internalized this same attitude toward writing and began focusing on making continual progress. This became one of their goals as well.
"Second, by using concrete examples, many provided by students, we worked through many aspects important to clear writing.
"Third, by sticking with one large paper that students wrote in pieces and then continually revised through multiple drafts, they focused on the process of writing and working on continual improvement."
Professor Malcolm Watson